Daily Blogging

My friend, Benjamin McDonald, says that if I'm not blogging nearly *daily*, then it's not really a blog.

Okay, okay. So, I'll blog more. Okay? Jeepers!

Working in Albany, NY is interesting.

First off, I ride the bus in the morning from Schenectady, NY to Albany, NY with almost exclusively state-workers as co-riders. Last Monday, Columbus Day, I didn't have off. I don't know of any non-Governmental business other than the banking industry that actually gives its employees Columbus Day off.

So, I get on the bus Monday morning with two other folks. The total of three of us rode the bus from Schenectady to Albany.

On the way home, I was the ONLY rider. I told the driver, just take me to the Greyhound station in Schenectady. You can drive the highway the whole way. He said he couldn't because of liability issues if he was in an accident in a place not on his route.

I still got home 15 minutes earlier than normal.

There's a lot of moving to and from NY City here in Albany. A young woman who was one of our secretaries here at the office just moved to NYC. Another developer just moved to Manhattan as his live-in girlfriend got a job there.

One of our program managers moved from NYC here a few months ago. I think lots of local businesses and general people in the area move to and from NYC often.

I don't know about you, but when I think of NYC (coming from Charlotte, NC), I think of folks who've lived there all their lives, etc. It's kind of interesting "rubbing elbows" with folks who've lived there, worked there, are from there, etc. At least for me.

The bulk of the 911-tragedy (not to lessen the importance of the Pentagon or the flight that crashed) happened in NYC. This is the Twin Towers state!

I've only been to NYC once, really. I've been through there at a Greyhound station a few times, and once, in a fit of stupidity, some sergeant and I drove in and quickly drove out of the city when I was on a TDY to Newark as a 1st Lieutenant in the USAF.

The scariest place I've ever driven, though, is Berlin, Germany. That was terrifying. NY might be scary, but Berlin has it beat by a long shot. They have mad-crazy busses barreling down the right-hand lane where no one else is allowed to use -- unless you're turning right. Watch out folks, I gotta swerve in front of some insanely accelerating bus so I can come to a screeching halt to turn! Woo hoo!

That's enough for today. I hope your freaking happy, Benjamin.